A Michigan Department of Natural Resources report concludes that damage like this will continue so long as snowmobile studs are used on the White Pine Trail when little snow is present.Courtesy of Friends of the White Pine Trail

KENT COUNTY, MI – Some White Pine Trail users are calling for a ban on snowmobile studs to prevent more damage to pavement on the former railroad bed that runs from Grand Rapids to Cadillac.

A Michigan Department of Natural Resources study found that snowmobile studs are causing scrapes and divots on paved portions of the trail, including a section in Kent County as well as a recently-paved stretch south of Cadillac. In response, the DNR plans an education campaign for snowmobilers.

But some trail users want the state to ban studs or charge a maintenance fee to snowmobilers who use them.

“We go to great expense to make it nice for everybody and then one group virtually destroys it,” said Dave Heyboer, chairman of the Friends of the White Pine Trail. “I love snowmobiling, but I am prejudiced. I don’t like studded tracks on snowmobiles. I think they cause horrendous damage to the infrastructure.

“It’s an atrocious mess (near Cadillac). You can see where they have just torn the whole surface right off. If they do not spin the track there is very minimal damage to the asphalt surface, but most of the guys that stud their tracks have very high-powered machines and they like to take off spinning a lot.”

The DNR paid $2 million to pave part of the trail south of Cadillac in 2010 with a special asphalt mix designed to withstand snowmobile use. But that part of the trail is showing signs of wear.

“Although the snowmobile mix has withstood better to the wear caused by studs then any other asphalt mixes, there is still damage when snowmobiles use the trail with little or no snow,” states the report by East Grand Rapids-based M.C. Smith Associates and Architectural Group.

“As snowmobiles become faster and more powerful and the popularity of stud use continues, damage of trails will continue,” the report concludes. “Damage to paved trails could be greatly reduced if trails would be used only during periods of adequate snow cover. Damage to paved trails could be almost completely eliminated if the use of studs were no longer permitted on paved trails.”

Snowmobile studs have made divots in parts of the White Pine Trail, said Dave Heyboer, chairman of The Friends of the White Pine Trail.Courtesy of Friends of the White Pine Trail

Studs are metal spikes added to a snowmobile's track for increased traction.

The report also found evidence of less severe stud damage in Kent County, where snowmobiles are permitted on the trail north of Russell Road. But “it is believed that the northern portion of the White Pine Trail between LeRoy and Cadillac experiences considerably heavier use then the southern
portion of the White Pine Trail,” the report states.

The trail is paved from Grand Rapids to Sand Lake, then asphalt picks up again at various spots to the north.

Heyboer wants the DNR to ban studded snowmobiles, or at least prohibit snowmobiles when there’s less than 6 inches of snow on the trail. (The current standard is at least four inches of snow.) But the state does not want to ruffle the feathers of snowmobilers, he said.

“The problem that did occur was just flat out abuse by a snowmobiler or two, but in the main it has not been a big problem,” said Ron Olson, the DNR’s chief of parks and recreation. “In a couple spots someone got goofing around in their snowmobile and basically really rubbed it up and spun the track to the point where it went through the snow and dug into the asphalt and then they kept spinning it to be cool or something and it created somewhat of a divot in the trail.

“We’re going to continue to allow snowmobiles. It’s not appropriate to ban it from the whole when just a few abusers do it. There’s a lot of well-intended snowmobilers who use the trail and don’t abuse it.”

Olson said the DNR will do “some promotional education” in hopes snowmobilers will take care on the trail with studded tracks.

“It’s hard to go around and be the studded snowmobile police,” he said. “We just hope that people use good judgment. We need to prudently use these trails because they’re there for everybody.”

Among the regular trail users is Houghton Lake hand cyclist Tom D’Ambrosio, who asked the DNR to ban studded snowmobiles. Lacking that, he wants the state to charge a fee for snowmobilers or stud manufacturers to build up a fund for trail maintenance and repairs.

“We’re not anti-snowmobiles at all,” D’Ambrosio said. “The problem is the guys with the studs that are out there hot-rodding around. They’re the ones accounting for 100 percent of the damage of the trail.

“There’s very, very significant unnecessary damage being done by a very small group of people in a very short season.”